Why you must get a Building Surveyor to Inspect Cracks

Seeing cracks in a building is something you never want to have to deal with. But if you do have to, you should call a building surveyor to check things out for you.

But don’t expect the worst straight away – there are lots of things that can cause cracks and a surveyor should look into what is causing the crack more to find the best solution to the problem.

Why it’s important to get a building surveyor to inspect cracks

There are lots of different reasons why cracks may form in a building and sometimes it can be a combination of reasons. That’s why it’s important to get a building surveyor to look at any cracks so you know what you need to do to deal with them.

A combination of factors could be causing the problems

Lots of factors could contribute to the cracking of a building. For example, there could be a direct cause, such as a damaged drain leaking water into the subsoil below the foundations, but the drain could be damaged by other things such as tree roots and recent excavation work.

So try not to panic – the cracks might be able to be stopped by solving the causes rather than having to worry about a structural failure of the building.

Let a building surveyor do a full inspection of the cracks first

Any good surveyor will not make rash decisions about what is causing the cracks. They will fully inspect the property and get as much evidence as they can to work out what is causing the cracking.

It might be necessary to have a geo-technical survey done which will tell the surveyor about what makes up the ground type. They may also want to have a survey done that will determine whether any trees are contributing to the problem.

Remember – you might not need any of these inspections. Once the building surveyor has done an initial assessment, they will be able to tell you whether it is a more serious issue.

Stitch repairing

If you don’t have a serious problem, you might be able to have the cracks repaired using the stitch repairing technique. This involves installing steel bars in resin that reinforces the crack.

Other remedial measures

If your cracking problem is a bit more serious, you might have to have work done such as underpinning. In the worst case scenario, you might have to go through a partial rebuild or even a full demolition and rebuild.

The fact that problems with cracking can be so wide-ranging and can need lots of different things done to remedy the problem means that it’s vital that you get a building surveyor to inspect your property.

If you don’t get someone to do a thorough job, you could end up spending money you didn’t need to, or not spending enough and risk the problem coming back again.